Rio Olympics 2016: Media needs to find ways to highlight stars like Kim Brennan when controversy rules

YOU probably haven’t heard of Kim Brennan, because she doesn’t actually do anything — other than win. But Jon Ralph says in today’s sporting landscape, is that enough?

Kim Brennan is a big chance to win gold in Rio. Picture Nikki Davis-Jones

YOU probably haven’t heard of Kim Brennan, because she doesn’t actually do anything.

Other than win, of course, which is pretty much what she has done since 2014.

The Olympic single sculler hasn’t called out a teammate on Instagram and ignited a social media racism storm.

She hasn’t been arrested for drink-driving — at close to 0.2 blood-alcohol content — then covered it up from her teammates and coach.

And she hasn’t even been cruelled denied gold by drug cheats then had her profile boosted by the heartwarming fallout/denouement.

Brennan (nee Crow) is a white-hot gold medal favourite in the women’s single scull in Rio and unbeaten in two seasons.

She was busy knocking over her main rival, New Zealand’s Emma Twigg, in a world cup event on Sunday night at exactly the same time the Caroline Wilson storm was breaking.

Brennan is articulate, forthright, intelligent and attractive, but because there is no aura of controversy, her profile is almost non-existent.

Kim Brennan in action at the London Olympics. Picture: AFP

Bottom line: She has totally failed to tap into the Outrage Industry that fuels so much of the media agenda these days.

The Wilson story deserves to be covered in all its various elements and nuances and angles.

Eddie McGuire bungled his words, bungled his first few apologies and the story has massive public appeal.

But the Outrage Industry has done a brisk trade.

We are outraged about the free speech implications, outraged by the tenor of the various apologies, outraged the media missed the story for a week.

Then, when the opinion writers start being deliberately contrary, we are outraged by their hot takes, then outraged by the backlash, then outraged this is still a story a week on.

Pretty soon — as the clicks mount up and the retweets and page views all increase — we are outraged at being outraged.

And we have lost sight of the core issue — that bullying and abhorrent language against a female could encourage violence against women by their partners.

Imagine if even 5 per cent of the attention paid being outraged these past 48 hours had been diverted to Brennan’s profile.

Think of what she could do with that profile to push important messages like female empowerment, a healthy lifestyle, the importance of chasing dreams.

Michelle Payne had to win a Melbourne Cup to get that platform and look how much good she has done.

But Brennan is so free of controversy her craziest celebration after London silver was going to a Thai restaurant and ordering a dish other than her favourite chicken pad thai.

Drug cheats denied Jared Tallent the chance to stand atop the dais at the London Olympics.

Jon Ralph says Jared Tallent now enjoys celebrity status after his remarkable gold medal story. Picture: Alex Coppel.

But in some ways winning gold four years later was the greatest boost for his profile he could ever hope.

A low-profile athlete from a consistently maligned sport is now an international sensation who can dine out on his remarkable story for the rest of his life.

He is — you guessed it — a celebrity.

It is no criticism of the humble and genuinely likeable Tallent, but if he plays his cards right his story will set him up financially for life.

Here is the challenge: how do we, as the media, find a better way to highlight the deeds of athletes like Brennan, when it won’t generate clicks and retweets?

Especially when one of the top-rating web stories yesterday was ABC presenter Leigh Sales leaves parents annoyed as she jumped a queue at a movie premiere.

Increasingly it isn’t enough just to win any more in sport. You must enrage or abuse or defy the critics or shock on your way to victory.

All Brennan does is cross the line first, and in modern sport that is no longer good enough.

Originally published as Rio Olympics 2016: Media needs to find ways to highlight stars like Kim Brennan when controversy rules